Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange (LCFE) and top commodities brokers have commended the Federal Government and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), for the recent directive, mandating companies to channel the importation of basic food items through commodities exchanges.
The new directive, which is expected to enhance price discovery, reduce inflationary pressures, and boost food security for the nation, provides that at least 75 per cent of basic food imported items by companies, be sold through recognised commodities exchanges, with all transactions and storage recorded.
Responding to the new policy, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, LCFE, Akin Akeredolu-Ale, described it as a government’s proactive approach to streamlining the importation process. According to him, it will benefit stakeholders across the value chain.
” Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange is ready and eager to play a pivotal role in facilitating seamless transactions and contributing to the overall success of this initiative. We pledge our support and cooperation for this initiative.
“We are already working closely with regulatory bodies and other stakeholders in the value chain to ensure seamless implementation. We have infrastructures that will guarantee smooth implementation of this policy.
” At the basic level, Commodities trading ensures that food products are efficiently distributed across the country by matching supply with demand.
“This helps to standardize quality, stabilize prices, reduce volatility, and making food affordable for consumers.”, Akeredolu -Ale added.
The Chief Executive Officer, Mega Equities, Sam Onukwue, urged the government to extend the policy to exportation of all food items to address forex scarcity in Nigeria.
“It signifies the government’s determination towards the success of its food security programme by ensuring that scarce forex for imports are properly urilized and well accounted for. We expect the government to extend the policy to exportation of all proceeds.
“This is what we have been advocating for all the while. It will not only address the current forex scarcity but enhance the GDP,” Onukwue said.
The Chief Operating Officer, GTI Group, Kehinde Hassan also applauded the policy as timely. He stated, “To further boost confidence in this policy, government should collaborate with the key stakeholders in the ecosystem by developing a policy framework, rules, regulations and sanctions for erring stakeholders. There is a need for an enabling environment from the government for this policy to stand the test of time.”
The Group Managing Director, Parthian Partners , Olusheye Olusoga, advocated the need to encourage farmers to increase their output.
“The government’s decision to import and waive some charges on imports is targeted at alleviating pressures on the citizenry in the short term.
“In order to boost the supply of the commodities and reduction in prices, efforts should be made to encourage the farmers to continue to grow their produce as the population of over 200m cannot survive on importation,” he said.